Tether, the stablecoin issuer behind USDT, invested in Lemonade Finance, the immigrant-focused payments app now rebranded as LemFi, to push stablecoin settlement into remittances across Africa and Asia.
The company announced the investment on May 18 in a press release, saying LemFi will integrate USDT as a settlement layer across payment corridors. Tether didn't disclose the size of the investment.
- Lemonade Finance, a fintech startup founded by former OPay executives Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran, started in 2020 to help immigrants send money home. The company later rebranded as LemFi in 2023 as it expanded from remittances into broader financial services for immigrants.
- The startup has raised about $85 million so far, including a $53 million Series B led by Highland Europe in January 2025.
- LemFi said at the time that it had more than 1 million customers, moved money to over 20 countries and processed $1 billion in monthly transaction volume.
The new move gives Tether, the issuer of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, another route into remittances, one of the clearer everyday uses for stablecoins outside crypto trading.